


Nyctophobia

by ClockworkDinosaur



Category: BioShock
Genre: Angst, Fear, Short
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-10
Updated: 2016-05-10
Packaged: 2018-06-07 12:17:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6803803
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ClockworkDinosaur/pseuds/ClockworkDinosaur
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"When fear of the dark reaches a degree that is severe enough to be considered pathological, it is sometimes called nyctophobia."<br/>She is afraid of the dark, but she has a knight in shining armor to protect her from the monsters that lurk in the shadows.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nyctophobia

She doesn't like the dark. The dark is where the monsters hide, she's told. In the dark, whispers and memories that aren't all her own taunt her, playing tricks on her mind and her eyes as she lies in wait. She doesn't like the dark, but that's where she has to stay. It's not safe for her to be alone in the open.

When Daddy finally comes home and calls for her, he brings beautiful golden light. It makes her time spent in fear and darkness worth it. He sings and she rushes to greet him, his strong hand taking hers, and he escorts her out the door like she is a princess. He paves the way to their adventures with his golden armor and shining sword, so bright it almost blinds her. She leads him, his large hand enveloping hers completely, as she follows the trail of butterflies and sugar that lead to the angels.

The halls are bright and soft as she skips on dainty feet past scattered scarlet rose petals and white lace pillows. She knows she is safe, nothing can hurt her when her Daddy is around. He is strong and brave and invincible, and she trusts him completely. He is her knight, her protector, her father. They go through a door and she's surrounded by magic. Leaves turn to the golden sun and songbirds trill in the branches. Light filters through the canopy and dapples the grass with patches of sunlight. She leads him through the enchanted forest, glowing faeries with gold wings and soft voices flitting through the treetops as she follows the scent of sugar. The grass underneath her feet is soft as she makes her way along. The angels are close, she can feel their warmth and the ADAM that glows in their full, sleeping bellies. She is nearly there when she hears the yells of the monsters.

All at once, things aren't real anymore. The trees are bare and the grass is dead and the faeries sting. Screams and gunshots echo through the dead forest as she stands blinking in the murky light. Dead grass prickles her bloodied and bruised feet but she doesn't notice, her glowing yellow eyes locked on her Daddy as he faces his attackers.

Her protector, terrifying and imposing in his dull and battered armor, wails underneath the force of heavy gunfire, his gun popping and the monsters jerking and snarling as rivets tear through flesh and organs. They don't stop though, their taunts shouted over her yells of encouragement and her Daddy's groans of pain.

When his legs buckle beneath him and the red light on his head fades to black, she screams a single piercing note that echoes through Arcadia. She runs past the heavily breathing, celebratory monsters and grabs his hand, pulling uselessly and begging him to move as tears streamed their way down her grime-covered face.

She doesn't turn as one of the monsters approaches her, her attention fully trained on her fallen protector. She doesn't tear her eyes away from his fallen body, even as she is grabbed by bloodstained hands and her vision turns a dark, murky green around the edges.

She doesn't like the dark, but Daddy can't help her chase it away now.

He is the last thing she sees before everything stops.

 

**Author's Note:**

> This is actually my first Bioshock only fic, and of course I had to make it as upsetting as possible and use a verb tense I'm not used to writing in. I hope it was still enjoyable though!


End file.
